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Clinical trials for rhabdomyosarcoma

You may have had to make a lot of decisions since you’ve been told your child has rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). One of the most important decisions you will make is deciding which treatment is best. You might have heard about clinical trials being done for RMS. Or maybe someone on your health care team has mentioned a clinical trial to you.

Clinical trials are carefully controlled research studies that are done with patients who volunteer for them. These studies are done to learn more about promising new treatments or procedures.

Clinical trials are one way to get state-of-the art cancer treatment. Sometimes they may be the only way to get some newer treatments. They are also the best way for doctors to learn better ways to treat cancer. Still, they are not right for everyone.

If you would like to learn more about clinical trials that might be right for your child, start by asking your doctor if your clinic or hospital conducts clinical trials. Children’s cancer centers often conduct many clinical trials at any one time, and in fact most children treated at these centers take part in a clinical trial as part of their treatment.

You can also call our clinical trials matching service for a list of studies that meet your child’s needs. You can reach this service at 1-800-303-5691 or on our website at www.cancer.org/clinicaltrials. You can also get a list of current clinical trials by calling the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) or by visiting the NCI clinical trials website at www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials.

People have to meet certain requirements to take part in any clinical trial. If your infant or young child does qualify for a clinical trial, it’s up to you whether or not to enter (enroll) the child into it. Older children, who can understand more, usually must also agree to take part in the clinical trial before the parents’ consent is accepted.